The "all new" Unicyclists-bashing-magicians thread!

[BillyTheMountain]

Also keep in mind that you can go to a magic show and everyone will attest to seeing "that guy disappear" or "that lady sawed in half" or any of the other tricks that they do. It doesn't mean that the magician actually did those things, just that the audience all have the same perception of them happening.

Yeah!! Magicians are just big FAKES!!! Right??

Who hates organized magicians??

[gkmac]

Not often you get to see my Mr Hyde side...

I used to like watching magic. But like Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and storks bringing babies, eventually I found out the truth. They were just looking like they were doing impossible things.

Eventually I realised that magicians are the most secretive, vain, stuck up, egotistic, selfish, narcissistic entertainers it has ever been my misfortune to get conned by.

Their ego and proudness seem to run to infinity as they talk and boast about doing "things" that nobody else can. And even the ones that don't talk... they smirk proudly about their apparent ability to defy the laws of physics and common sense.

And even though some of their acts may be mighty impressive and/or dangerous, their respect is washed away by something far worse than their ego. Their conspirational and tight-lipped secrets and mechanisms that make the tricks "work".

If something appears impossible, I want to see how. Yes I can be impressed by a trick, but I don't want to have my mouth perpetually open and having several weeks of sleep and every spare thought-time interrupted by the constant thought of "How did he/she do THAT?".

[bmemike]

Woot - I spawned a new thread without even trying!

If we make the predication that the supernatural is not "real", then by definition, magic is fake.

That aside, some tricks are neat to watch, but I'll take a skilled acrobat, contortionist or unicyclist over a magician any day. The people in Cirque du Soleil have any magician beat for raw skill hands down.

[Naomi]

Not often you get to see my Mr Hyde side...

Eventually I realised that magicians are the most secretive, vain, stuck up, egotistic, selfish, narcissistic entertainers it has ever been my misfortune to get conned by.

Their ego and proudness seem to run to infinity as they talk and boast about doing "things" that nobody else can. And even the ones that don't talk... they smirk proudly about their apparent ability to defy the laws of physics and common sense.

And even though some of their acts may be mighty impressive and/or dangerous, their respect is washed away by something far worse than their ego. Their conspirational and tight-lipped secrets and mechanisms that make the tricks "work".

If something appears impossible, I want to see how. Yes I can be impressed by a trick, but I don't want to have my mouth perpetually open and having several weeks of sleep and every spare thought-time interrupted by the constant thought of "How did he/she do THAT?".


I think you miss the point completely: there is absolutely no point in watching a magic trick if you know how it is done, except perhaps for another magician wanting to see how well it was done. Of course it is all trickery, as anyone over the age of seven knows, but well presented magic, magic that defies the mind's gravity, is entertaining, as is trying to work out how it is done. Magicians HAVE to be secretive, or else magic as an entertainment would die.

Wanting to be told how it is done is like wanting to be able to do a unicycling, or a juggling trick without the hard work. You probably only look at the answer page to the crossword as well. The defying physics chit-chat is all part of the act, it is not a constant state of mind. Any magician that has you with " mouth perpetually open and having several weeks of sleep and every spare thought-time interrupted by the constant thought of "How did he/she do THAT?"" has succeeded completely and totally in his act. Why should that lose him respect?

Could it be that you just hate being fooled?


Nao

[uni57]

... their apparent ability to defy the laws of physics ...

"How did he/she do THAT?"Um, isn't that what we do? :)

Haven't you ever ridden past someone whose mouth is gaping open and they have that all-too-familiar question written all over their face: "How does he DO that?" And then you smile inwardly with your self-content and evident superiority. You unicyclists make me SICK!

(a tongue-in-cheek post, as I think yours was...)

Actually, this raises an interesting question. What do people really think when they see us? I've been accused of showing off on multiple occasions. And I just do basic riding on my Coker.

[rabbithunter018]

That aside, some tricks are neat to watch, but I'll take a skilled acrobat, contortionist or unicyclist over a magician any day. The people in Cirque du Soleil have any magician beat for raw skill hands down.

Same here. The tricks are fun to watch, but they bug you when you know that it's fake and you have no idea how they did them. With acrobats, you know what they are doing is real, but it still looks impossible and you still don't know how they do it. Of course, unicycling seemed impossible at first, until I got the hang of it!:)

[uni57]

Dear BillyTheMountainBike,

Nice thread title. Thank you. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

P.S. - did I spell your name right?

[Naomi]

That aside, some tricks are neat to watch, but I'll take a skilled acrobat, contortionist or unicyclist over a magician any day. The people in Cirque du Soleil have any magician beat for raw skill hands down.


Watch some of the manipulation magicians, the things they can do with a pack of cards amaze me at least as much as the best unicyclists.
They have raw skill too.

Nao

[gkmac]

there is absolutely no point in watching a magic trick if you know how it is done.Well when I watch those "Breaking the magicians code" type programmes on TV I don't know how the trick is done when it is first performed. Thus it does look impressive, but at least I'm not going to be bamboozled for the rest of my life.Magicians HAVE to be secretive, or else magic as an entertainment would die.
...
Wanting to be told how it is done is like wanting to be able to do a unicycling, or a juggling trick without the hard work.Maybe they are afraid that everyone will copy their tricks if the secret is revealed? Not necessarily, two examples of this...

One is the close up magic or sleight of hand tricks involving quick movements of the hands which will be "unseen". Even if you know the mechanism behind the trick, it still takes practice and skill to be able to do it "unseen".

The other is some types of dangerous tricks, such as one I saw where the magician had to escape while suspended upside-down in a tank full of water. Even though I know the pins in the hinges of the handcuffs were not fixed in, it still takes someone special to be able to do that while being without oxygen for about a minute or two. I couldn't do that.as is trying to work out how it is done.Nothing fun about that at all. I just think about how one way it could be done, then get proved otherwise and then have to think about another way it could be done, then get proved otherwise, and then the vicious circle begins and I start to get angry.Could it be that you just hate being fooled?Yes I do. I like to know how everything works, whether it be magic tricks, machinery or Linux startup scripts.Of course, unicycling seemed impossible at first, until I got the hang of it!...and me too, because at least there aren't any deliberately secret methods you have to discover to master it. It's all practice...

[Naomi]

Well when I watch those "Breaking the magicians code" type programmes on TV I don't know how the trick is done when it is first performed. Thus it does look impressive, but at least I'm not going to be bamboozled for the rest of my life.Maybe they are afraid that everyone will copy their tricks if the secret is revealed?....



No: they are afraid that no one will want to see their magic if everyone knows how it is done, in exactly the same way that if everyone could wheel walk then wheel walking would no longer be impressive to anyone. Some unicycle to impress, some as a social thing, others to be alone. Which are you? The third?

Nao





One is the close up magic or sleight of hand tricks involving quick movements of the hands which will be "unseen". Even if you know the mechanism behind the trick, it still takes practice and skill to be able to do it "unseen".

The other is some types of dangerous tricks, such as one I saw where the magician had to escape while suspended upside-down in a tank full of water. Even though I know the pins in the hinges of the handcuffs were not fixed in, it still takes someone special to be able to do that while being without oxygen for about a minute or two. I couldn't do that.Nothing fun about that at all. I just think about how one way it could be done, then get proved otherwise and then have to think about another way it could be done, then get proved otherwise, and then the vicious circle begins and I start to get angry....

So: you want no mystery in your life, nothing unexplained, never to be able to wonder exactly how life began? What the universe really is and whether we had a big bang? These must cause you constant sleepless nights. How do you cope with the mysteries of women? There is something few men have come fully to terms with. Profile: Interests: Linux: very telling: everything has to be logical and neatly laid out on the plate for you, ready cooked, already solved, or with neat and tidy instruction sheets?
At age three, I saw my first rainbow. None out the adults there knew any more than that it was a rainbow. But it impressed the hell out of me and even now, I can still picture the scene with that very same rainbow. It was a source of wonderment and mystery, never frustration or anger, for many many years. In some ways it still is. Long may it be so. Although I know know how it was formed, I don't need the knowledge. The event needed no explanation to be enjoyed. And so with magic and with....
Where is the logic in being angry because you cannot solve a magic trick?

Nao


Yes I do. I like to know how everything works, whether it be magic tricks, machinery or Linux startup scripts....and me too, because at least there aren't any deliberately secret methods you have to discover to master it. It's all practice...

How can anyone want to know how everything works, to have no questions left in his life. Why do you NEED to know how the magicians trick works, and why have you no respect for it unless it is clever manipulative trick involving hours of painstaking practice? The performer may have put a lot of thought into inventing that trick.
I feel rather sorry for you, your life seems to lack that rainbow and you seem to want to kill any sense of the unknown.


Nao...not really believing much of what you said.

[Jerrick]

The main thing I like about magic, are the card tricks, which is what I'm working on, street magic, like David Blaine, and everything with levitation. I don't care if there are strings attached, or setting up\rigging your cards for the tricks, its fun to perform.

[cathwood]

I am happy to be amazed and bamboozled. Even if I knew how it was done I would probably forget and be amazed all over again. That people can trick others in this way so as appear to do magic is fascinating. The mind, although an amazing thing is also easy to fool sometimes.

Having said that, I find card tricks boring. I like big tricks.

Cathy

[James_Potter]

Speaking as one who used to perform magic...well, yeah. I like magic.

[s7ev0]

I find card tricks boring. I like big tricks.

Cathy

No, for me it's the close up sleight of hand tricks, with cards or anything else. With the big tricks I always have the thought in the back of my mind that there is a team of backroom guys doing all the hard work, whereas close up solo stuff is very skillful.

I also like it when magicians/illusionists and others like Derren Brown recreate so-called miracles or show how they can do the same as faith healers, psychics or mediums.

[James_Potter]

No, for me it's the close up sleight of hand tricks, with cards or anything else. With the big tricks I always have the thought in the back of my mind that there is a team of backroom guys doing all the hard work, whereas close up solo stuff is very skillful.

I also like it when magicians/illusionists and others like Derren Brown recreate so-called miracles or show how they can do the same as faith healers, psychics or mediums.
I agree, close up magic is what I used to do, and its really amazing when it's right in front of your face, but the magician's hands are so fast and smooth you simply can't tell what is going on...its awesome.

[gkmac]

Hey, chill out Naomi! I'm not trying to start a fight, that's the very last thing I want as I make this my 250th post. I assure you that Mr Jekyll is firmly back in control here.

Firstly, about "no one will want to see their magic if everyone knows how it is done". I once channel hopped onto a "Breaking The Magicians Code" where they had just started explaining a trick, and I did say to myself "that would have been great if I saw it done first".

If I know someone is watching or about to watch a performance of a magic trick of which I know how it's done, I never say to them how it's done, or even that I know how it's done, unless they happen to ask me. And only after the trick is fully done and they ask me again and again that I might say to them "well, did you notice that..." and get them to work it out for themselves.

(If you look above at my second post about the escaping from water trick, you'll see that I've broken this rule. That was an unintentional oops).

So if a trick was revealed, I wouldn't blurt it out to everyone I met afterwards and spoil the surprise. It's no different from seeing the latest feature film and keeping "what happened at the end" to myself.

You then asked "where is the logic in being angry because you cannot solve a magic trick?". Well, there isn't any logic in that. To be honest I don't choose to get angry about it. I didn't choose to be built to have an extreme reaction to what should be entertainment, in much the same way that I didn't choose to be left handed.

I have similar reactions when it comes to being presented with those mensa style puzzles and dilemmas, such as the one where the bloke returns from home and takes the lift to floor 8 and then walks up the stairs to floor 16, even though he wasn't into exercise and the lift was in full working order.

My mind is a logical one, and mysteries are not compatible with it. It is unusual to have a logical mind, even I know that.Linux: very telling: everything has to be logical and neatly laid out on the plate for you, ready cooked, already solved, or with neat and tidy instruction sheets?Well I use Gentoo Linux (http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-quickinstall.xml), which may answer your question.;)

[maestro8]

Dear BillyTheMountainBike...did I spell your name right?
"Billy" goes well with "Goat"... how about BillyTheMountainGoat? BillyTheMountainDew? BarelyTheMountain? BillyTheHill? BillyTheMound?

Sorry, I should get back to work...

[nachos]

i like what they do i just wish they wouldnt pretand to be all WOooOO special cuzz they can do illusions.. i mean thats all it is... so why not call it was it is the art of illusion.. not magic..

[James_Potter]

i like what they do i just wish they wouldnt pretand to be all WOooOO special cuzz they can do illusions.. i mean thats all it is... so why not call it was it is the art of illusion.. not magic..
I donno about other magicians, but I never played around with silly illusions back when I regularly performed...I just did plain magic.

[Naomi]

[QUOTE=gkmac]
I have similar reactions when it comes to being presented with those mensa style puzzles and dilemmas, such as the one where the bloke returns from home and takes the lift to floor 8 and then walks up the stairs to floor 16, even though he wasn't into exercise and the lift was in full working order.

QUOTE]

I don't think those are either logical or Mensa style puzzles. They are quirky problems and usually either you see the answer or not. They are not really intelligence type problems and success in them is not related directly to IQ ( as measured by such as Cattell).
You should take the Mensa entrance test. Hardest test I ever did, I even nearly got annoyed with it because it gradually became obvious that it would be impossible, because of time constraints, to complete all of the paper. It was designed that way. And the questions gradually got harder as well.
Interesting to see how you would react. I came out with my mind steaming, but buzzing with excitement because of the extreme challenge I had just faced. It didn't worry me any longer, once I left the room, that there were questions unsolved and unread.

I am a little surprised you do puzzles: what if you could not solve them? Would you have to look up the answer? Or suffer another sleepless night(s)?

For a woman I have an unusually logical mind, but I have learned that there is far more to life than heavy reliance on that. Thinking and acting outside of that logical box is great fun.

And apologies, I have never used Linux, in any of its flavours, so the version you use tells me nothing.


Nao

[BillyTheMountain]

[QUOTE=gkmac]For a woman I have an unusually logical mind
Nao

Sexist?

[Gilby]

Hey now... please keep in mind that magicians are fake. But illusionists are teh real thing.

PS. My brother is commonly called a magician, but is really an illusionist... that's what he does for a living.

[DarkTom]

i like what they do i just wish they wouldnt pretand to be all WOooOO special cuzz they can do illusions.. i mean thats all it is... so why not call it was it is the art of illusion.. not magic..

I know what you're meaning and I think that's what the very first thread was about. Apart from the illusion bit. The fact that magicians are all "wooo I can do magic, I'm better than you" is a bit annoying.

I reckon GKmac and Naomi should rent a room to discuss this further. If you stopped talking you might have some fun.


T.

[unijesse]

i love magicians

[MrBoogiejuice]

"Billy" goes well with "Goat"... how about BillyTheMountainGoat? BillyTheMountainDew? BarelyTheMountain? BillyTheHill? BillyTheMound?

Sorry, I should get back to work...

BrokebackTheMountain?

[BillyTheMountain]

[QUOTE=gkmac]For a woman I have an unusually logical mind, but I have learned that there is far more to life than heavy reliance on that.

Nao

Sexist?

I reckon GKmac and Naomi should rent a room to discuss this further. If you two stopped talking you might have some fun.

T.

Sexy?

BrokebackTheMountain?

Sexiest?

[Unimichael]

I think the title says it all.

White faced, striped shirt, suspenders.

Skinny as all heck.

Constantly trying to escape FROM THINGS THAT AREN'T EVEN THERE!!!!

Climbing imaginary ropes.

Weirdos!!!

[Unimichael]

I have similar reactions when it comes to being presented with those mensa style puzzles and dilemmas, such as the one where the bloke returns from home and takes the lift to floor 8 and then walks up the stairs to floor 16, even though he wasn't into exercise and the lift was in full working order.

Speaking of Mensa, are there any lurking Mesans here?

Are any intending to attend the WG?

[gkmac]

BillyTheMountain, in your post #26 I think you have the first "quote" mixed up...If you stopped talking you might have some fun.I have stopped talking about this, thank you Thomas.

[BillyTheMountain]

BillyTheMountain, ...I have stopped talking about this, thank you Thomas.

Did you and Nao rent a room and have some fun??? !EEK! :D

It wasn't my suggestion.....

[Naomi]

I reckon GKmac and Naomi should rent a room to discuss this further. If you stopped talking you might have some fun.


T.


But I have been told that talking is the most fun you can have with your mouth open.

;-)


Nao

[DarkTom]

Do you believe everything you are told?


T.

[BillyTheMountain]

Do you believe everything you are told?


T.

You missed the winky smile, at least....

[sparrowhawk]

Guys......please dont dis magicicns and what they do, ive been doing close-up and stage magic since i was 10 and you have no idea how much work that goes into it, i work in a restraunt £50 an hour not including tip which can vary, and i give the customers a good time which they will enjoy, my job is to astound and amase people for their and my enjoyment.

A few posts back there was a thread about how offended you felt when the bikers on the bike forum were saying unicyclists were gay etc.....your just doing the same thing but towards magicians, this dosent go towardes everyone who posted on this topic by the way.

Patrick.

[BillyTheMountain]

Guys......please dont dis magicicns and what they do, ive been doing close-up and stage magic since i was 10 and you have no idea how much work that goes into it, i work in a restraunt £50 an hour not including tip which can vary....
Patrick.

Another FRAUD, fooling people and taking their $$$. :D

Just like those unicylists. :D

[DarkTom]

You missed the winky smile, at least....

The what now?

I saw some random punctuation.


T.